Score registering device



April 25, 1939.

C. J. BREITENSTEIN ET AL SCORE REGISTERING DEVICE Filed Aug. 21, 1936 2Sheets-{Sheet l v 20 v J9 I 15 12 I I N JO Patented Apr. 25 1939tsTAvAlLA -E scoan REGISTERING navrca Charles JjBreitenstein and Alfredr". Chouinard,

Chicago, Ill., assignors to Raymond Ohicago, Ill. I

T. Moloney,

Application August 21, .1936, Serial No. 97,118

5 Claims.

The invention relates to an automatic score registering device for usewherever desired, but particularly in games having playing pieces whichare movable over or into pockets or targets having given numerical scorevalues.

For instance, in ball rolling games having pockets, or the like, intowhich balls may be rolled, upon the display of the requisite skill bythe player, it is usual to have the several pockets marked with scorevalue numbers such as 10, 20, 30, etc. At the termination of play it isdesirable to have the score total of thepocket ed ballstotalized anddisplayed to the player of the game.

The present invention, therefore, relates more particularly to anautomatically acting score totalizer usable wherever desired, butparticularly in ball rolling games. Since many of these games are usedin poorly illuminated places, it is desirable that the totalized scorebe displayed as visibly as possible and the structure of this inventionalso purports to solve this difiiculty by causing a clear display of thescore total under all conditions of use of the associated game.

The main object of the invention is to provide I an improved scoretotalizer. Another object is to provide a simplified totalizer in whichwhen electrical switches are momentarily closed by game playing piecesor the like, a score carrying wheel, or the like, is stepped up from aninitial starting position to show instantly the score as it progressesand finally at the end of the play, the score total. Still anotherobject of the invention is to project light through the score numberwheel, which is made transparent, so as to enable, by means of lenses,to project the score total on a display screen. or the like, in enlargedsize, so that the score will be clearly visible.

Another object of the invention is to provide a release mechanismoperable after a final score total has been displayed to return thetotalizer mechanism back to an original starting or zero position.

Other objects will becomeapparent to those skilled in this art as thedisclosure is more fully made. e

Briefly, such desirable objects may be achieved by the illustrativeexample of the mechanism herein to be disclosed wherein normally open,electrical spring switches are arranged in a row. Each switch whenclosed, serves to complete a circuit to energize an electromagneticdevice having an armature which turns a ratchet wheel one step. Movablewith the ratchet wheel a (Cl. aa-27) transparent disk carrying on itsmarginal edge a series of number designations in proper order "from 10in multiples thereof to 20, 30, 40, etc., as high as is necessary,depending upon the character of the game, or the like apparatus withwhich the totalizer is to be used. Light from a lamp is condensed on theedge of the disk to project an image of the numbers through a projectionlens and onto a ground glass or other translucent display screen, wherethe score numbers are visible. Each time a switch is closed the step upmechanism operates the display number disk, with the number in line withthe lenses constantly being light projected onto the display screenwhere it' is visible.

When the scoring cycle has been completed, an electromagnetic releasermay be operated to cause release of the step up mechanism and automaticreturn of thenumbered display disk to an initial starting or zeroposition. So much will sufiice in giving a general understanding of theimproved counting mechanism, which is shown in detail in theaccompanying sheets of drawings, wherein:

Figure lis ageneral perspective view of an illustrative type of ballrolling game with which the totalizer may be used, the near wall of thegame having been removed to show the ball routing alleys to guide thepocketed balls over the control switches for the totalizer;

Figure 2 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the display totalizerper se;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the totalizer taken along theline 3-3 of Figure 2,- looking in the direction of the arrows; and,

Figure 4 is a reduced scale, plan view of the totalizer taken along theline 4-4 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, thereadditionally being shown an illustrative wiring diagram for theelectrically operated parts.

For the sake of illustration only, there is shown in Figure 1 a bowlingtype of ball rolling game, embodying an alley in along which a playerrolls balls toward the ramp end thereof shown at I l. The balls leap offthe ramp and depending upon the player's skill, into any one of aplurality of passages formed by spaced ring the present game shown thereare flve score 7 pockets, only live switches are shown. Thus thepassages i serve to direct 'the pocketed balls to control the number ofthe switches that the re-' turning balls are to operate, in a mannerthat will be obvious, and in accordance with the desired score value ofthe pockets. a

The rear end of the game includes a back wall i3 and with the table i 3serves as a support for an upper cabinet I9, having a front wall 29provided with a centrally disposed opening covered by a circular groundglass, or other translucent display screen member 2i. This cabinetportion l9 also includes a floor 22 which as will now be seen serves asa support for the score registering mechanism of this invention.

Preferably to facilitate manufacture and assembly of the games,the'totalizer is made as asmall compact unit to be included with ahorizontal support plate .23 that may be fastened to the floor 22 in anyconvenient manner.

The plate 23 accordingly carries an uprigh bracket providing atransverse wall 24 carrying a horizontal, longitudinal shaft 25 formounting a ratchet wheel 26 having the necessary number of teeth. Thewheel 26 and wall 24 respectively carry pins 21,23 between which isconnected a spring 29, as shown. Also the wheel 26 carries a stop block30 cooperable with a stop pin 3| on the wall 24.

Above the wheel 26 the wall 24 carries a bracket structure 32 formounting a transversely disposed solenoid 33 provided with an armaturecore 34 the free end of which is notched as at 35 to fit loosely over apin 36 carried on an upright lever 31 pivotally connected by a pin 36 atits lower end to the wall 24, as shown. Around the pin 38 is a coiltension spring 31' serving normally to pointing toward the wheel 26 bymeans of aspring 49 connected as shown.

Looking at Figure 4 it can be seen that a source of energy appears inthe diagram at 4| and that by means of wires 42, 43 the solenoid 33 isplaced in circuit with the battery, or the like. A wire 44 leads fromthe solenoid 33 to one side of eachof the switches l1 and then throughthe said switches by a common return wire 45 back to-the battery. Eachtime a switch i1 is closed by a ball rolling thereover a circuit ismomentarily closed to energize the solenoid 33, the'rstroke of the parts34, 31 being so proportioned that the dog 39 will step up the wheel 26one tooth. In this manner as the wheel 26 turns away from its startingposition determined by the stops 30, 3| the-spring 29 is tensioned tostore energy for a purpose later to appear. 7

Turnable with the ratchet wheel 26 on the forwardly extended shaft 25 isa laminated wheel multiples of 10, as 10, 20, 30, etc., are marked.

Adjacent the wall 24 the plate 23 carries a socket BEST AVAiLABLE COP.

43 for an electric lamp 49 which by means of wires 50 is in circuit withthe source of energy to be illuminated and serve as a light source.

In front oi the lamp 49 the plate 23 carries an upright bracket 5i inwhich is mounted a condenser lens 52, said lens and lamp beinglongitudinally alined with the transparent marginal score marked trackor edge of the wheel disk 41 in such a manner that the light from thelamp is condensed directly onto the score markings. In advance of thedisk 41 is another bracket 53 also carried on the base plate 23, saidbracket carrying a projection lens 54 to receive the light from thescore image and project it, enlarged, onto the back side of thetranslucent screen plate 2i heretofore described. The score thusdisplayed is visible from the front side of'the game as indicated inFigure 1.

' Whenthe allotted number of balls have been played and the score totalhas been displayed the parts should be reset so that the display wheel41 will always start from its zero marking position. Such resetmechanismcomprises a pivoted retrograde preventing pawl 55 normallyengaging the teeth of the ratchet wheel 26,. Said pawl is pivotedbetween its ends by:a mounting pin 56 to carry same on the plate bracket24. The pawl is pulled to duty by means of a spring 51, as shown. Thelower edge of one end of the said pawl .55 includes anarmature pad- .59directly in line with the core of an upright electromagn 59 carried onthe base plate 23.

This magnet 59 is normally in an open circuit 60 with the battery 4 I,said circuit being closable to energize the magnet bymeans of a pushbutton switch 6|, or any other desirable form of circuit closer.Thiscompletes the, detailedv description of the mechanism and the modeof operation oi the score counting and totalizing mechanism will next bedescribed.

The starting or zero indicating position of the parts is shown in Figure2 where the spring 29 has the ratchet wheel 26 pulled counterclockwisewith its block 39 abutting the stop pin 3|. I I Since.

the magnet 59 is deenergized the spring 51 engages the dog 55 in theteeth of the ratchet wheel 26. The score number disk 41, of course, isnow a in the light ray from lamp 49 to indicate a score oi zeroprojecting on the screen 2|. The solenoid 33 is deenergized and thetension spring 31' has the lever 31 pulled outwardly against the stop39' with the pawl 39 abutting the stop pin 39'.

In the playing of the game, or other associated apparatus a switch i1 isclosed by a ball or the like, whereby a circuit is completed to energizethe solenoid 33 momentarilyto pull the armature 34 to the right as seenin Figure 2. whereupon the lever 31 is pulled in the same direction toengage the pawl 39 with the ratchet wheel 26 one notch. This turns theshaft structure 25 one notch and with it the disk 41 one notch or from aposition marked zero to a position marking 7'10, which the light andlens structure instantly projects onto the screen 2| for display. Thedog55 merely prevents retrograde turning by holding the gain of the ratchetwheel 26. Such dog 55 is necessary as the wheel 26 steps up it tensionsthe reset spring 29. The instant the solenoid is deenergized the spring31 swings the lever 31 back to the position of Figure 2 to disengage thepawl 39. In this fashion each time a switch i1 is closed the ratchetwheel 26 and display disk 41 advance one step to step up the displayedscore in an obvious, manner. When closing of the switches II has ceased,as

when no more balls are available for play, then the mechanism displaysthe final score total on the screen 2| By pressing the button 6|momentarily, the electromagnet 59 may be energized, whereupon to attractthe pad 58 and swing the pawl 55 to release same from the ratchet wheel26. With the wheel 26 thus freed, the spring 29 is operative to pull thewheel 26 and with it, of course. the disk I! in a reverse direction toreset the same in the initial, or zero starting position, as determinedby the stops 20, ll

From this disclosure it will now be seen that a simple and improvedscore totalizer and displayer has been provided for achieving theobjects of the invention heretofore recited.

It is the intention to cover all changes and modifications of theexample shown for the sake of illustration, which do not depart from thespirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the class described positionable as a compactprojector unit in an exhibitor structure and comprising a horizontalsupport, a vertical bracket mounted on the support and carrying ahorizontal shaft, a ratchet'wheel secured to the shaft adjacent thebracket, said shaft projecting through and beyond the other side of thebracket, a light source, a disk carried on said projected end of theshaft and having a marginal edg'e throughwhich a beam of light may beprojected, lenses carried on the support respectively on opposite sidesof the disk and in alinement with each other and with said marginal edgethereof, means on said support for securing the source of light inoptical alinement with the marginal edge of the disc and the lenses, anelectromagnetic device carried on the bracket on the ratchet sidethereof, a lever pivotally carried on the bracket, said lever includinga pawl to operate the ratchet wheel to turn the shaft and disk, meansfor operating the lever from the electromagnetic device, stop meansbetween the bracket and wheel, a spring pulling the wheel to the stopmeans to determine a starting position from which the disk and wheel isto be turned,

' means to prevent retrograde movement of the disk and wheel, and meansto release the latter means to permit the'springto pull the disk andwheel back to the starting position.

2. Iii a device ofrthe class described positionaue as a compactprojector wt in an exhibitor structure and comprising a support, abracket on the support, a horizontal shaft carriedon thebracketincludingadiskturnableontheshaft axis, a ratchet wheel turnablewith the disk,

spring means exerting -force on the disk-and wheel, a stop means betweenthe wheel and bracket to determine a starting position for the disk andwheel, a driver pawl to move the disk and wheel intermittently togetherfrom the starting position, a yieldable dog to prevent retrogrademovement of the wheel, means. to operate the driver pawl. said diskhaving an edge through which a light beam may pass, a light source. acondenser lens positioned between the disk and light source, a projectorlens means on said edge support for securing the source of light inoptical alinement with the marginal edge of the disc and screen, meanson said support for securing said source of light in optical alinementwith the edge of the disc and lenses, operating means for the diskcomprising a ratchet wheel turnable with the disk, a spring pullingsame, a stopagainst which the wheel is normally held by the spring,a'driver pawl to advance the ratchet wheel step by step from the stopand to energize the spring, a dog to hold the gain of the wheel, andmeans to release the dog to free the wheel whereby the spring mayreverse the disk and restore the wheel and disk to their startingpositions determined by said stop.

4. In a device of the class described positionable as a compactprojector unit in an exhibitor structure and comprising a supportcarrying a turnable disk having an edge through which a light beam maypass, a source of light, a screen, a lens system associated with thedisk to project light from the source through the disk to the screen,means on said support for securing said source of light in opticalalinement with the edge of the disc and lenses, operating means for thedisk comprising a ratchet wheel turnable with the disk, a spring pullingsame, a stop against which the wheel is normally held by the spring, adriver pawl to advance the ratchet wheel step by step from the stop andto energize the spring,

pawl, a yieldable dog engaging the wheel to prevent retrograde movementthereof, and electromagnetic means to tree the dog from the wheelwhereby said spring is efl'ective to reversely drive the disk and wheelto the starting position determined by the stop.

5. In a device of the clam described positionable as a compact projectorunit in an exhibitor structure and comprising a horizontal supportcarryingatur'nablediskhaving an edge through whicha beam oflightmaypass,aaource oflight, a screen, a lens system associated with the disk toproject light from the source through the disk to the screen, means on'said support for securing said source of light in optical alinement withthe edge of the disc and lenses, a stop means determining a startingposition-from which the disk spring means to drive the disk reversely toits starting position.

